Toronto-based investment company Brookfield has now hired DNB Markets and Citi Investment Bank as advisors in the process of finding partners for Altera Shuttle Tankers, according to Norwegian financial daily Finansavisen.
The Stavanger-based owner of 28 shuttle tankers has extensive charter contracts with Equinor and other oil companies.
Altera Shuttle Tankers is a subsidiary of New York-listed master limited partnership Altera Infrastructure, which has a fleet of 51 ships.
The bow loader business was originally built up by Equinor's predecessor Statoil under the name Navion.
This company was operating shuttle tankers hired from other owners such as the Rasmussen Group and JJ Ugland.
In 2002, Statoil chose to sell Navion, which was acquired by Teekay in tough competition with Trygve Seglem’s Knutsen OAS for some $800m.
Altera Shuttle Tankers, which is headed by Ingvild Saether, and Knutsen NYK Offshore Tankers are today the leading players in the shuttle-tanker business.
In 2017, Brookfield bought a 60% stake in what was then known as Teekay Offshore and in 2019 increased its stake to 77.1%, buying Teekay out of the company.
Teekay Offshore was later renamed Altera Infrastructure and its preferred shares continue to trade in New York. The shuttle-tanker business has bonds listed in Oslo.
Brookfield did not respond to requests for comment from TradeWinds.
Altera declined to comment, except to reiterate a statement from its February earnings release where the company said it "is exploring, with the assistance of retained financial advisors, a number of potential strategic initiatives, which may lead to certain asset sales to optimise our portfolio, seeking joint venture partners for our business interests and/or capital raises or other similar transactions to support future growth".
On its fourth-quarter conference call, Altera executives said they saw the need for additional ships in Brazil, with many shuttle tankers there reaching 20 years of age, although they were unclear on what propulsion system they might use.
Last year, it took delivery of four LNG-fuelled shuttle tankers, but LNG bunker fuel is not available in Brazil.
Altera booked an annual loss of $346m in 2020, compared to a deficit of $159m a year before.
